That was then
by Imps
Summary: A half-giant overcome with boredom is soon to find things changing when a bounty-hunter to-be transfers to his outpost. set before Samus served under Adam rating may/may not go up in later chapters
1. Chpt 1: On Duty

NOTE: I don't own any character, place, or idea in the Metroid series. All that stuff belongs to Nintendo.

The OC, naturally, does belong to me, as do the Drengr Tribes.

Hooray for Blatant references to the Norse and the Icelandic!

I used Old Norse for some of the words, including the OC's last name, and I used Icelandic for others. If you can tell me which I used which for, I'll give you a cookie! Well, not really, but hey. (o_o)

ONE MORE THING! I apologize for mashing words together like so, as I don't know the tiniest scrap about Norse and Icelandic Grammar.

Oops! before I forget, this is my first attempt at a fanfic, so please, review.

~Imps

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That Was Then…

Chapter 1: On Duty

_A few years before Samus Aran began her career as a bounty hunter_: Kairn sighed. He was on watch duty tonight. Again. He was getting kind of tired of watch duty, but he decided against complaining, because… Well… He hadn't been good at much else, had he? Most humans couldn't stomach good old-fashioned Drengr cooking, and the small few who could, unfortunately, weren't in this company. He sighed again. Besides, after that incident when he had been assigned electrical maintenance, the Colonel had forbade him from ever being assigned said duty again. How was **He** supposed to know that a man with a bio-metallic alloy for skin probably shouldn't be near frayed wires? '_It's only common sense._' his Drengr side reminded him. '_Ah, shove it.'_ retorted his human side. _By the gods_ thought Kairn, _I'm having an argument with myself._ He shook himself from his moment of idiocy and proceeded with his vigilance over the landscape before him. Then he remembered that this night might not actually be so boring after all, as the Colonel had informed him that tonight was the night where accepted transfer requests were completed. Many of the lower ranks referred to this as 'Move-along Monday' as that was the day it usually took place. _I better double my efforts to…_ he grimaced _…stare out at the blasted forest in the hopes that I might get a bit of entertainment._ He sighed for a third time, but this time, when he looked up, he saw a Federation transport flying in. He flicked on his suit radio, "Sentry 4 to Father, do you read?" Father was the Communications Officer, he was actually a pretty small guy, but talk to him over the ComLink, and you'd think you were talking to somebody who DEFINITELY wasn't 5 feet tall. "Roger, Sentry 4, Loud and Clear, watcha need?" "There's a Federation Carrier vessel approaching the Compound." "Roger That, Sentry 4, I'll inform the Colonel, Over and Out." Kairn watched the ship get closer to the compound, silently wondering what kind of people there were onboard. "Probably a bunch of recruits who transferred because their previous station was too boring." He grumbled to himself "Well they'll find that not much is different here."

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Samus awoke from her brief nap when the Pilot activated the Intercom and droned into it "We are approaching the base on Thurdan Prime, if Thurdan Prime is your stop, please gather up your things and be ready to disembark." Samus sighed and reached under her seat, grabbing her small bag of belongings and her rifle. It was at this time that she noticed nobody else was doing the same. _I guess nobody likes Thurdan Prime too much._ She stood as the ship landed and left through the now open bay door. Here she was greeted by Colonel Shepherd, whom she saluted. "A pleasure to have you with us, Corporal." The Colonel stated. "A pleasure to be here sir." she replied. Inwardly she growled. '_This base is just like every other one. If the first soldier I see hits on me, so help me I'm filing for a transfer immediately.'_ "PRIVATE LAGJOT!!!" The Colonel bellowed, snapping Samus from her inward sulk. She looked in the direction the Colonel had shouted, and saw a man jump off the wall and run towards them. It wasn't until he got close that she noticed how **tall** he was. He was easily 7' tall, if not more. He came to a halt in front of them and ripped off a salute. "Yes, Sir." He rumbled. '_If mountains had a voice,'_ Samus mused,_ 'and you fused it with the voice of a human, I think you could replicate his voice.'_ "Show Corporal Aran around the entire compound, then get some rest. Unfortunately, I need to attend a meeting." The soldier saluted again "Sir, Yes Sir." at this the Colonel saluted both of them and strutted off. "Ma'am, just so you know, I'm Private Lágrjotun, but nobody can pronounce my name properly, so everybody just calls me Lagjot, pleased to meet you." said the Marine "If you'll just follow me this way, I'll show you around the compound." He slung his rifle over his shoulder and sauntered off. '_Strange,'_ Samus thought,_ 'I'm not sure if he was hitting on me, or if he was clearing up that his name wasn't really Lagjot.' _She shrugged. '_Oh well.'_ "With all due respect Ma'am," she heard the mountain holler "I can't show you around if you don't follow me." "Coming!" She yelled back, and ran after him.

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'_She seems really out of it.'_ Kairn mused._ 'I guess she's got a bit of star-lag going on.'_ "These," He motioned to the various buildings, "Are a bunch of decoys." The woman named Aran stopped for a moment. "What?" "I mean what I said, they're decoys." He showed her the inside of one of them, revealing it to be nothing but bits of painted-over scrap metal lumped together. "This way," Kairn continued, "If we're bombed, their fire is directed away from the essential systems. The actual compound is, of course, underground." He led the tired corporal to a large patch of grass that was a slightly different color then all the grass around it. He then knelt down and reached through the dense grass, pulled a switch up, twisted it counterclockwise, pushed it back in, then stood up and backed away slightly. The patch of grass then opened up and revealed stairs down to a hallway. "After you, Ma'am." Kairn offered. Cpl. Aran grunted and descended the steps. Pressing a button on the way down, Kairn sighed '_I don't think she cares for me much. I hate situations like those. Go down first and seem like you consider yourself better, or let her go first and somehow give the impression you're flirting.'_ "I just can't seem to win." Kairn grumbled softly "Did you say something Private?" "Don't think I did Ma'am. Anyways, if you'll just walk this way you'll find the Hub, which pretty much connects the entire base," afterwards he added in a slightly depressed tone of voice "but I suppose you didn't really need me to tell you that." He sighed again. "Anyhow, if you could just follow me…"

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Samus wasn't really paying too much attention to the tour the private was giving her. Naturally, a part of her brain was logging where everything was, but what the rest of the brain was focused on was this: With a voice like that, what the hell could he possibly look like? Several images passed through her head, ranging from a tall and burly human to some strange rock-based alien with a face like a human, only flat. '_This is absurd, I ought to just ask him.'_ she glanced at the still talking and obviously rather bored soldier quickly_ 'But then he could lie…'_ she mused. "… and here is the dormitory, I'm given to understand that these are your quarters." He motioned to the door they'd stopped in front of, labeled 13576. "This place has that many rooms?" she asked skeptically. For the first time, she heard the man let out a low chuckle "By Oa'le, no, it doesn't." Samus stopped. "What was that name you mentioned?" something in her voice must have alerted him to danger because he froze, but for only a half-second. "Oa'le, he's one of the Chozo who so kindly came down to the Drengr, seeking to stop the bloody war that was going on between the tribes. He did, but mainly because they mistook him for a god. Several years later, when he admitted he was not in fact a god, and that he had only assumed that guise to stop our fighting. It was then that Ymir, Warlord of the Drengr said thusly:" he seemed like he was quoting scripture now, Samus raised an eyebrow, but listened anyways. "You have blessed us with Technology, you have helped us settle every conflict and conundrum that has appeared, for this, we shall always consider you wise." The man known as Lagjot paused before continuing "But you saw that we were at war with ourselves, slowly extinguishing our flame. You came down to us and helped us to the path of peace and happiness. For that, we shall always revere you as gods." He sighed. Then he started "Skjóta! My apologies Ma'am! I didn't mean to bore you with history!" Samus just waved a hand at him "Quite alright. Thank you for showing me around." She opened the door to her dorm and said "Thank you for the tour Private. I'm going to sleep now." 'Lagjot' saluted "You're welcome Ma'am. And Ma'am?" She looked back at him "Hmm?" He hesitated. "Pleasant dreams." He saluted again and marched towards the Men's quadrant. Then he walked into his dorm, removed his armor, and went to sleep.

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Lengthy start huh? Sorry about that, I'm bad at compression. Anyhow, sorry about not including descriptions, I couldn't think of a good way to do it just yet, so I'm going to do that in the next chapter, so I am. Anyhow, hope you at least somewhat vaguely enjoyed that. ~Imps


	2. Chpt 2: Introductions

Alrighty-righty, here we are, Chapter 2!

I don't own Metroid, but I do own Kairn, the Drengr, and possibly Thurdan Prime if nobody else has used it already. Not sure on that point =S

In any case, enjoy, and leave me a review, I need the feedback!

~Imps

That Was Then

Chapter 2: Introductions

Kairn groaned, and rubbed his face. He had just fallen out of bed, again. '_Well, it's not like they had anything in size 7'5".'_ he thought grumpily. He yawned, scratched himself, got up, made sure he was properly dressed, and made for the Mess Hall. As he passed dorm No. 13576 he couldn't help the feeling that he was forgetting something important. He shrugged and yawned again, and looked left in deep surprise as a whoosh marked the opening of said door.

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Samus wasn't a morning person, by any stretch of the imagination. She especially didn't like it when people woke her up by being noisy, so when she awoke to the sound of extremely heavy footsteps, she was, needless to say, less than pleased. She got out of bed, grumbling to herself about idiots who couldn't be at least half-way quiet, and opened the door. The sight which greeted her wasn't too distinct, but it was big, and it had glowing white eyes. At this point, she did what any sensible girl would do in such a situation, and punched it.

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Kairn clutched his stomach, groaned, and crumpled onto the floor. "Ugh," he moaned, "What the," he coughed "HELL was that for?" He slowly began to get up, and looked into the surprised face of his assailant. '_Oh, that's right, the lady who just transferred. KNEW I was forgetting something…'_ He thought. Then he coughed again and said "I apologize, I had almost forgotten about you, I would have been a bit more careful if I had remembered. I'm Kairn Lágrjotun, from last night, remember?" He rubbed his stomach and winced, watching her face carefully. Relief washed over him as recognition crept into her features. "I'm the one who should be apologizing," she said "You gave me a bit of a fright." "No problem." he replied, "And Ma'am?" "Yes?" "With all due respect, what do you _do_ for exercise? Bench-press cruisers? That hurt!" For some reason, he felt a tinge of satisfaction as she smirked and said "Nothing of the sort Private, now let's get breakfast." "Sounds good, Ma'am."

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While they were eating the nutrient-heavy and taste-free slop they served in the Mess Hall, Samus got a better chance to look over the features of the giant of a man across the table from her. He had Dark Green hair, and his skin was somewhat… metallic? Her eyes narrowed a bit in confusion, but then she continued her once-over. His eyes, which had been white when she punched him, were now a flat brown. He was certainly a strange one. He looked up and she saw his eyes smoothly change to a smoky gray. "Something wrong, Ma'am?"

She snapped out of her thoughts, realizing that she had been openly staring. "I was just wondering about your hair…" "Hm? Oh! You mean, how, with all the rules and regulations and stuff, I got to keep it like this?" He tugged a strand "M-hm." "Well," he replied, pulling the strand out and handing it to her "It's because I can't do a thing about it. Here, feel it." she gave him a look suggesting he was a nut, but took the strand of hair anyways. It was at this point that she realized it wasn't hair in the normal sense. "This is…" "Gemstone, yup. Peridot, to be exact." He seemed… almost proud of how bizarre he was. "It's one of the quirks of the Jörð tribe." she furrowed her brow for a moment, shrugged, dropped the hair and continued eating.

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'Well,' Kairn thought to himself, 'that was interesting.' He shook his head and continued eating. He took this time to give the woman across from him a quick visual examination. She had blonde hair, cut short as per Military Regulation, and she was in great shape. She also seemed to have an intellect surpassing the collective IQ of every other man in the base. Probably his too. He gave a short chuckle, then came to his senses and mentally chastised himself for staring. He didn't fancy getting another punch like the one he'd received in the dorms. Then something occurred to him. He coughed politely, causing the Corporal to look up. "Yes?" she asked "I'm sorry, but I don't think I got your name, Ma'am." She stared at him for a bit before replying "My name is Samus Aran." "Pleased to meet you, Miss Aran." She gave a strange combination of a cough and a laugh "Just Samus works fine, thank you." "Alright." she looked lost in thought for a minute. "You said your name was Kairn, right? Back at the Dorms?" She queried "Sure is." She nodded and went back to eating. Kairn finished eating and pulled out his standard-issue PDA.

"What are you doing?" Samus asked.

"Checking my assignment for today."

"Oh, I guess I should too." Samus grumbled

There was a small "bloop" sound from Kairn's PDA, and his assignment was somewhat surprising to him. "That won't be necessary." he murmured. Samus gave him a quizzical look, to which he replied "_We're_ on patrol today."

Well, there it is. I hope you liked it, despite my status as a Newbie Writer.

A Routine Patrol, nothing could go wrong, right? Find out in the next Chapter, please rate and Review!

But mostly Review.

Please?

See you all later! ~Imps


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